Freda Levson

Winifred "Freda" May Levson (born MacDonald Troup 21 November 1911 - 7 October 2004) was a South African activist. Levson fought against apartheid throughout her life. Her 1950 book, In Face of Fear: Michael Scott's Challenge to South Africa, brought public attention to the issues of racial segregation in Africa and also to the work of Reverend Michael Scott.

Biography Levson was born in Pretoria on 21 November 1911. Until she was 13, she attended school in England and spent her holidays in Scotland.

Levson worked with Reverend Michael Scott in 1946 on the plight of Namibians and other related liberation campaigns. However, in a review in The Observer, Margery Perham wrote that the book "lacks balance, continuity and exactitude." The book did bring public attention to the issue.

Levson married Leon Levson in the early 1950s and the couple moved to Johannesburg. Both women were fined as well.

Levson helped maintain the funds of the South African Treason Trial Defence fund which helped support legal fees for those accused during the 1956 Treason Trial. Levson also began to work with Congress Alliance in exile and worked for the International Defence and Aid Fund (IDAF). Samuel Beckett was involved and Waiting for Godot was not performed again in South Africa until 1976 when it starred an all-black cast as Market Theatre, Johannesburg. Between 1980 and 1985, she served on the council of IDAF.

When apartheid was ended, Levson donated her papers to Fort Hare University. She received a telegram from Mandela on her 90th birthday, where he wrote that he would always remember her efforts to fight apartheid. Levson died on 7 October 2004.

Selected bibliography